Road Trip 2018: Salt Lake – Alta Ski Resort – Home
Friday, February 2, 2018: Drive to Salt Lake City – Alta Ski Resort
We packed up the Subaru and enjoyed our included breakfast and bid our farewells to the Kalispell and Whitefish Mountain Resort… There was dusting of fresh snow this morning…
Today would be another long drive heading east and south all the way back down to Salt Lake City and base of the Cottonwood Canyons resorts…
Heading out of Kellogg was smooth and easy back on Hwy 90 towards St. Regis and beyond… as well as navigating through Missoula… We connected to I-15 just short of Butte and continued to Dillion where we stopped for a Subway lunch break… By this time, although Subway Sandwiches are a good and healthier option to the fast food chains… I was getting a little Subway’d out… About two hours later we came through Idaho Falls…and continued, until we cross the Utah border… Somewhere back there, can’t remember the crossing or town, but we had to stop for fuel as the Fuel light came on and glad we did as there was less than a half gallon left…
Lots of traffic on I-15, and plenty moving at a much faster pace as we got nearer to Salt Lake City… Negotiating the freeway system in Salt Lake is now a breeze as the GPS Mapping System, put us on I-80 toward Park City, but the 215 Exit before it winds up to Parley’s Summit… The 215 freeway runs along the west side of the Wasatch Range and delivered us to the Cottonwood exit that we were looking for…
Our accommodations were at the Hyatt Place Salt Lake City / Cottonwood…
We were fortunate to have this set up by our friends at Alta Ski Resort and Visit Salt Lake Visitors Bureau… This was a really nice hotel, more of a corporate business hotel with a very welcoming staff, large relaxing lobby and large food seating area for accommodating their included breakfast… Starbucks and bakery snacks also available as well as a bar… But, you couldn’t just order a drink at the bar, as it is a restaurant and you had to order food from their menu to get a beer or drink… Understood as Utah alcohol laws have been changing and since the 2002 Winter Games and although you still have to go to a State Owned Liquor Store to purchase… it’s a lot easier to get a drink now than in the past… I remember the earlier days visiting Park City and if you stepped into a bar, you had to have a person in the bar sponsor you for membership to be allowed to order drink… Then, it became a little easier as servers would have to use the proper phrase… “Would you like something other than water to drink?” Since I don’t drink, this was never an issue for me, but I have observed this liberalization and progression as it applies to alcohol, for the past 25 plus years…
All around the Hyatt Place were restaurants and shops, even a ski shop in the parking lot… we didn’t get there until after 7:00pm and that Subway Sandwich was long burned off, by the remaining drive… We walked up the parking lot to a Shopping Center and there was some kind of chicken restaurant… I didn’t catch its name, but Chicken was on the sign… even tried to check in on Facebook, so it must have been somewhat new for it not to register a name for that location…but, the food was good… A Quarter of a Roasted dark side Chicken with Brussell Sprouts in an Asian sauce and Mac & Cheese… A welcomed change from Pub Food!
That evening, I couldn’t sleep too well, the light coming in through the window shades was an issue… they seemed too transparent, but finally caught some Zee’s…
Saturday, February 3: Alta Ski Resort
I figured out the situation with the window shades… there was another black out shade that I didn’t realize needed to be lowered to completely darken the room… Oh Well, maybe I‘ll sleep better tonight… There was no Hotel Shuttle to the ski resorts, but their shuttle would take you to a nearby parking lot that ski shuttles ran back and forth servicing both Big & Little Cottonwood Canyon resorts… We drove up the roadway and noticed several on our way to Little Cottonwood Canyon and to Alta Ski Resort… This is a pretty good climb up the canyon and added this to the list that Dan and I were compiling on what ski resort access roads would be challenging road bike climbs… The road up to Bogus Basin, road up to Schweitzer, road up to Powder Mountain, and now the road up to Little Cottonwood Canyon…
Snowbird and Alta are neighboring resorts and most folks were turning off into the Snowbird parking lots and we continued up the road to Alta… We hit it just right as the parking attendant decided to start another row and we got the edge closest to the lodge…
We stopped in the Guest Services offices to pick up our lift tickets… This was packed… Oh yeah, this was a Saturday… People picking up season passes, redeeming Mountain Collective tickets with their codes… a lot going on, I didn’t have my drivers license or legal ID, but they found us in the computer, I we were off to ride lifts…
Alta is steeped in history, and at my age, skiing history is a big thing as I have lived through much of “from where we have come… “ Celebrating 80 years and yes, there is a little town of Alta at the base… We were glad we had chosen Alta for our last resort working our way back home… Why? We hadn’t skied it in a number of years and there have been many improvements and we were to meet with their Marketing & PR Director to set in place, this resort and Salt Lake City as our destination for next year’s NASJA Western Winter Summit meeting…
Alta has 2,200 acres of skiable terrain with 116+ named runs… They receive an annual average snow pack of 551” and they has over 2000 vertical feet… All this is serviced by 10 lifts & Tows… https://www.alta.com
We rode up the Collins Lift that has a kink in it and at that mid load station, there is the new on mountain lodge, The Watson Shelter… This lift and on mountain lodge were all new since the last time I skied here… Continuing up the lift to the top, we skied down Devils Way to Rollercoaster to the base of the Supreme / Sugarloaf Lifts. There is another on mountain restaurant at this location, Alf’s Restaurant. We rode up the Supreme Lift and skied down a couple of runs, including Big Dipper and Rock ‘n Roll… We rode up the Sugarloaf Lift and skied down the Watson Shelter for a coffee break… it was cloudy with a little bit of wind, but the snow was in great shape… packed powder and carvalicious…
We took the traverse under Mt. Baldy to the connection gate with Snowbird… Our RFD Tickets did not allow us access thru the gates… We assumed our lift tickets were good at both resorts, but since we got comps, it was good for Alta, only… there is a two-resort ticket offered… Alta as well as neighboring Park City’s Deer Valley are two of the remaining ski resorts that are still SKI Resorts… Or should I say, they Do Allow Snowboarding from the day after they close to the day before they reopen!
It’s kind of nice to not hear scrapping boards or have to keep a look out on the sides of runs for guys taking hits on stumps, grabbing air time without concern of where they land… or coming out of the trees on to main runs with out looking… skiers most definitely still come out of the trees, but at least they look when they enter the main runs… Okay for the most part…
We skied back down to the base and rode the Collins Lift back up… I wasn’t feeling it this day… not sure if I was coming down with something, but my energy level was not there and maybe it was altitude as the top of the mountain was at 10,550 feet.
We cruised back down to the base and met with Connie Marshall, long time marketing and public relations director… we go way back to the early 90’s becoming friends and visiting all the Utah resorts way before their quest to host the Winter Olympic Games and continuing to help spread the word after they received the bid to host the 2002 Winter Games… Connie informed us that she was planning to retire but signed off on being one of the host resorts for next years meeting and all was good… She honored us with a special 80 Year Anniversary Pin, to which I will cherish…
I decided to put a fork in it and Dan wanted to ski a few more runs, as after this road trip, wasn’t sure about when winter would really arrive back home at Lake Tahoe and when he would be able to ski again…
We drove back to the Hyatt Place and took some time to start packing up, boots back in boot bag, helmet bag, and ski wear packed into the Subaru, so all we needed was to bring the luggage and laptop pack in the morning…
I went down to the lobby and got a Starbucks and cookie and tried to catch up with social media on phone… Dan messaged me that he was in a nearby bar having his glass of wine and maybe they would turn the Warrior’s Game on… I walked over a bit later to meet him at the bar… that next to and part of an Italian restaurant… This was a Saturday evening and they live music, or at least a guy playing guitar and entertaining customers and seemed like a good place to hang… the bar tenders were friendly we exchanged stories of skiing, golf, bike riding… what else could you ask for in casual conversation…
Pasta with Meatballs with a side of Garlic bread was the call to fill my tummy and I was good… I think they weren’t able to find the Dub’s game, so we watched Cleveland vs Houston…
Sunday, February 4: Superbowl Sunday and the Road Back Home
With the Subaru all packed, I enjoyed a casual breakfast this morning at the Hyatt… We knew it would be a long, but familiar drive back on Interstate 80, so we planned to leave at 8:00am… to which we were close to that schedule… We had enough fuel to make it to Wendover, so, we hit the road running… It was good travel day with mostly clear and sunny skies… we had heard about the record high temps back home in Tahoe and wondered if the snow was holding up…
During our road trip, we encountered, not at all, but at some lifts how groups would stop blocking entrances to the maze or snowboarder stopping sideways, blocking the entrance, so Dan decided he was going to write a piece on Lift Line Etiquette, so he pulled out his notepad and we thought about some of our recent encounters and started a list…
Here is Dan Giesin’s Blog on GetSkiTickets.com
http://www.getskitickets.com/blog/7-steps-to-chairlift-civility/
We stopped in Wendover to refuel and hit the road, continuing west on I-80… We have done this drive many times and you set the cruise control and let it ride… Good thing is crossing the Nevada Border is crossing over to Pacific Time and you gain an hour…
We listened to the build up to the start of the Superbowl on the SiriusXM Radio and knew we would still be on the road when the game started… We stopped in Winnemucca for a lunch break and no Subway for me… We ended up going to a Taco Bell… Okay just slightly better that Micky Dee’s or BS King, but fast food on the road is still fast food on the road… We made it back home to my house by 4:00pm and Dan unloaded from my car and reloaded his, that was parked in my driveway for the duration and he still had to drive back to San Anselmo in Marin County before he was home…
I was glad to be home and my dogs were glad to see me, so I spent some time with them… Can’t believe that my little Catahoula, Buster has grown so much more in the 18 days I have been gone… the Dude was a happy boy and all was good… I didn’t even turn on the Superbowl until later to view the last end of the game…
Over 18 days, we skied 12 days at 10 different resorts and logged 3530 Miles… Time for an oil change…
Boise, Idaho: Bogus Basin
McCall, Idaho: Brundage Mountain Resort
Sandpoint, Idaho: Schweitzer Mountain Resort – 2 days
Nelson, BC: Whitewater Ski Resort – 2 ski days
Rossland, BC: Red Mountain
Lake Louise, Alberta: Sunshine Village & Banff Lake Louise Resort
Whitefish/ Kalispell, MT: Whitefish Mountain Resort
Kellogg, Idaho: Silver Mountain Resort
Salt Lake City/ Cottonwood: Alta Ski Resort
A Great 2018 Road Trip with Hula-Gan search and finding Fresh Snow and Powder! Hoping I can still do this next year, as for the remainder of this year, I will be dealing with some health issues that can be corrected, but only through a series of surgeries.… I am anxious to move forward… Wishing everyone a Great 2018 Winter and Safe Travels in your search for Powder Turns…